Here&There Now&Then
by RedSavant
Summary: Experimental ficlets set with various characters in various times. Chapter 6A: Rider From the West - In another place and another time, things are radically different. Chapter 6C: Dai-Shikyokao: Let's see what more familiar faces are up to...
1. Chapter 2: What Comes After

**Chapter 2: What Comes After**

**PLEASE NOTE: I've deleted chapter 1, Hope Rings Eternal, because upon rereading it it didn't work as well as I'd like. I'll take a look at it, and if I can fix it, I'll repost it. Please don't hold your breath, though.**

**Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann and its characters belong to Studio GAINAX. Thanks for letting me play with your toys, guys.**

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**Spoilers to Episode 16**

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" –orka. Tayorka. Hey, dumbass, wake up!"

There was a titanic clang, and a red starburst of pain flashed across Tayorka's vision as his head collided with the metal headrest of his Ganmen's cockpit. Rubbing the tender spot with one hairy hand, he turned to focus on the green-edged pane Rava's disapproving face leered out of. "What are you doing, smashing around my Ganmen like that?" he growled.

"It's nearly dawn, and you're asleep in your cockpit, you fat slug," his wingman replied sharply, wickedly curved beak giving each word a clipped cadence. "Get your shit in gear. It's time to go, and like hell I'm going to babysit you if you're not ready to fight."

"Watch your tone, _private_," Tayorka barked. "I'm still your commanding officer."

The loud burst of laughter from the inter-Ganmen comm link made Tayorka grit his teeth, simian incisors grinding against each other. Rava made an elaborate show of wiping away a tear. "Commanding officer? That's rich, _corporal_ Tayorka," he chuckled, emphasis giving the rank a cruel twist. "Get. Your shit. In gear. I won't say it again." Faint tremors shook up through Tayorka's spine as Rava piloted his stolen _nikao_ out of the cave that served as base. Perhaps they were seismic; the ten-meter tall mech was heavy enough for that. But more likely not.

Rava smirked as best he could, watching his superior officer seethe with impotent rage in his tiny training _ichikao_. It was far below what a corporal deserved, but then again… the best toys went to the guys with initiative, eh? He rubbed the sleek black metal of the Ravan's cockpit with an appreciative hand. Initiative, indeed.

After the collapse of Teppelin, there had been nothing but chaos in the Human Extermination Army. With all four of the Generals dead – hell, with the Helix King himself dead – the chain of command had snapped at the very top, and the chandelier was falling with what looked like Very Terminal Velocity. So, yes, Rava had bailed. Cytomander, who nominally controlled his former squad, had been a moron anyway.

Not that Tayorka was any better. Being a subordinate of Thymilph's, who had never really encouraged free thought, didn't tend to do much for one's planning abilities.

All Tayorka mostly did was talk. In fact, he rarely stopped bitching, even when they'd robbed and killed that bunch of humans a few weeks ago.

Unlike the new guy. The new guy hardly said anything at all.

"Hey, whatsyerdamnname," the avian Beastman called through the _nikao_'s external speakers as he approached the most recent addition to the team. "Wakey wakey." The third member of the roving bandits piloted a medium-level _ichikao_ of decent quality, a powerful little machine to be sure – but no match for the Ravan, and that made Rava the leader. He snorted. Moving blindingly fast for a ten-meter tall Ganmen, the streamlined _nikao_ pivoted to deliver a roundhouse kick to the smaller Ganmen.

Equally fast, thick metal fingers clamped around Ravan's ankle, stopping the attack dead. A green pane flashed into life on Rava's windshield.

"I'm awake," the grey _ichikao_'s pilot said shortly. With a huff, Rava yanked his ankle free and nodded gruffly. "You ready to go then, jackass?"

"Yes." Rava nodded again and hailed Tayorka's – hell, his Ganmen didn't even have a name. What a pathetic excuse for a Beastman. "Hear that, Tayorka? New guy's already ready to go. Got all your ammo loaded? Of course you don't. Don't you dare bitch at me, I don't want to hear it." Rava closed the pane, cutting Tayorka off in mid-sentence, and leaned back against the plush headrest. He chuckled and turned back to New Guy, who had watched the exchange impassively. "Damnit, I gotta say, I think something's wrong with that guy. Maybe he was at the Dai-Ganzan when the humans took it, eh? And in all the fighting, he got his ass mixed up with his head. Certainly looks like it to me." He laughed again, shaking his head.

"Ah, geez. Maybe it's just that he used to be, oh no, a _corporal_, thanksverymuch. Fat bastard never fought a day in his life, like as not. As far as I'm concerned, the farther you get up the ladder the closer you get to –" he paused mid-sentence and turned to squint at the rookie. "Hey, you weren't brass, were you? I'd hate to piss you off. And then have to kill you."

The pilot of the grey _ichikao_ turned his Ganmen to face the matte-black colossus. There was a moment of tense silence as the pilots eyed each other, hands never quite near weapons – but never exactly far away, either. The silence stretched; soon, someone would blur into action, moving with deadly purpose to –

"Hey! Are we going or not?" Tayorka demanded, the squat skull Ganmen stumping between his teammates'. Like that, the air of death dissipated; each pilot relaxed from a battle stance they hadn't consciously taken.

"Yeah, yeah. Shut the hell up, Tayorka. You're about one bad day from looking enough like a human for me," Rava muttered, then raised his voice. "Alright. Simple job: jump down the hole, step on humans, grab shit, run. Got it, Tayorka? Even you can fall down a hole, though I wonder if even this one's big enough for your fat ass."

"Adai Village, right?" Tayorka grunted. "Good. Been wanting to clear them out for a long time."

"Like hell you even knew about it," Rava sneered. "New Guy, take point. Damn, what's your name again, New Guy? Livver?"

"Close enough," replied Viral, former Eastern Branch Commander of the Human Extermination Army. "Close enough."


	2. Chapter 3: All The Stars In The Sky

**Chapter 3: All The Stars In The Sky**

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**Spoilers to Episode 9**

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It was only later, after the laughter had died down and the soft snores of the Dai-Gurren Dan's new pilots were rising through the air, that Yoko found the courage to approach him. He was sitting outside the clearing, on a spit of rock jutting out over the plain below, rather than on Gurren's head. Saved her the trouble of clambering up the chilly metal.

He looked up at the sound of her footsteps, but said nothing, even as she sat down next to him with a small puff of dust. The silence was a companionable one, though, broken only by the soft chirps of snakebirds and, once or twice, the distant harsh bark of a rabbit-gator. The darkness made it difficult to see any of the lowlands with clarity, but one point far off in the distance was well visible: a crater, painted in vibrant color by portable floodlights. Small shapes scurried over and around the Dai-Ganzan, straining with chains and their own Ganmen to uproot the colossal mech.

"They'll have it out by tomorrow," Yoko remarked quietly. He nodded agreement, watching the same pool of light she was.

"Yeah."

"Do you –" Yoko paused midquestion; of course he believed what he'd said at dinner. It wasn't in him to lie to anyone, for any reason. "Do you think Viral will have new swords by tomorrow?" she tried instead, inwardly punching herself. _How stupid_. To her surprise, he chuckled, looking down briefly.

After a moment, he straightened back up. For once he'd taken his sunglasses off, and Yoko could see his eyes move as something else on the horizon caught his eye. She followed his gaze just in time to see the twin peaks on the horizon erupt, spewing lava into a glowing lake in the basin around them. The fiery outburst painted the surrounding landscape in orange, fading through red as the flames dissipated.

"Yoko." He said it so quietly, but insistently enough that Yoko felt her face heat. Just heat from the eruption, she hastily told herself, though he wasn't looking at her and it was too dark to see someone blush anyway. If that was what she had been doing, which it wasn't. Anyway. "Yeah?" she managed.

"Do you know what the stars are?" he asked, head craned back to look up at the velvet darkness above. Yoko blinked.

"Well, Lon always said they were really balls of fire, like the sun only much farther away," she replied, after a moment. "Why do you ask?"

With a _whoosh_, he was standing, ragged cape swirling in the cool night breeze. "Our first night at Ritona Village was the first time Simon and me'd seen stars, or the moon. I told him, 'Simon, one day we're going to that moon up there'. It just seems kind of a waste to go to the moon and not see one or two stars on the way."

Yoko sighed. "You can't go to the stars. It'd be like trying to stand on the sun."

He laughed, a hearty bark of a laugh that recalled many other moments like this. "Well then, I guess we'll just stop by the sun to practice!" he crowed, raising his fist to the sky.

He nodded to himself, then sat back down. Yoko frowned at the back of his head as another burst of lava broke into the outside air.

"You know, that lava's my brother," he announced suddenly, after a minute. "As much as Simon is. Hell, that lava is Simon."

"You really are dumb, aren't you," Yoko muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Breaking out from underground," he continued, as if he hadn't heard. Jerk. "Making it to the surface through sheer willpower. And look," he said semi-smugly, pointing at the erupting crown of the volcano, "Even the fire inside the mountain gets to the stars eventually."

Yoko gasped involuntarily as a massive shower of sparks rose upward from the caldera, a golden-orange curtain of flame stretching hundreds of feet in the air. The sparks danced in the wind and, from this distance, their cooling lights did seem to merge into the distant white light of the stars.

"Yoko, listen. No matter what happens, I want you to make sure Simon gets to the stars, eh?" he murmured, so softly she wasn't certain he had said anything. Then he was up again, stretching as he paced back toward the doused remains of the cookfire. "'Night, Yoko. Get some sleep; those furry bastards'll have the base dug out by noon, and we've gotta be ready." The mechanical whir of Gurren's mouth servos sounded through the clearing, followed shortly by the clang of the teeth clamping shut behind him.

Yoko sat on the ledge for a long time.

--

"_Anikiiiiiiiii_!" The scream was ragged-edged and raw; it held no dignity, no hope. Farther down the deck of the Dai-Ganzan, Kittan and Dayakka were wrestling with Simon; the young digger was biting, kicking, and thrashing in an effort to reach Gurren. Yoko felt her legs collapse beneath her. In one instant, he was just gone. As simple as that. He'd just slid down in his seat and…

Hot tears stung her eyes as the long-threatened rain began to fall. Color seemed to leach out of everything as the water streamed down it, and even Simon's screams became muffled. She was in shock, literal shock, and grateful for it. Maybe it was the only thing keeping her from hysterical sobbing, wracking tears.

The world grew dim, and a hissing sound began to cut through Simon's sobs. Great billows of steam rose all around the captured battleship as the rain met the magma, shrouding the sky further. The stars were invisible.

She broke then, collapsing further onto the deck, feeling tears streaming down her face intermingling with the rain. Nothing mattered anymore. The stars were invisible; the sparks had died on their voyage, falling back to earth.

Kamina was dead, and nothing mattered anymore.

**I wrote this at 1:30 AM, so sorry for the steep quality dive at the end there. Oh well.**

**Please take the time to submit a review, especially any kind of criticism. It won't take much of your time, and (hopefully) the end result will be a more enjoyable story for everyone. **


	3. Chapter 4: Looking Back, Looking Forward

**Chapter 4: Looking Back, Looking Forward**

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**Spoilers to Episode 16**

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It was inevitable, really. As large as Teppelin was, someone had to have found it someday. She just wished it had taken a bit longer.

"Wow, so this is your room, Nia-chan?" Attenborough asked, peering around over the tops of his glasses. "It's huge!"

"Yeah, and a little creepy," Yoko muttered. The furnishings were a strange blue-purple, giving an overall impression of the soft appearance of velvet. The drapes hung thick and heavy over windows that had never opened; the carpet was plush, almost ankle-deep. Yoko shifted around, unwilling for some reason to let her feet sink too deeply into the fibers.

"I can agree with you there," Dayakka mused, looking around himself. The room, while large, felt cramped; every available space was packed with dolls of every kind. Plush dolls and porcelain dolls, of every size and color; all were covered with a thin layer of dust. "Are all these yours, Nia-chan?"

"Yes," Nia replied softly, trailing a finger through the dust on the face of a nearby porcelain cat-Beastman.

"Well, we can leave 'em here for you if you want," Kittan offered. "Come on, everyone, back to work. We still have a lot of crap to clean out on the fifth floor. Move it, ya bastards!" Grumbling good-naturedly at the abuse, the Dai-Gurren Dan filtered out into the hall and back to the staircase. Nia took a few steps into the center of the room, sitting down on the familiar softness of the canopy bed.

"Nia?" Startled from her thoughts, she looked up. Simon stood in the doorway, looking rumpled from the effort the Dai-Gurren Dan had been putting into removing the trappings of the Beastmen from the conquered capital. "What are you doing in here?"

"Oh, hello, Simon," Nia replied, smiling faintly. "This was my room." She scooted aside and patted the deep purple bedspread, beckoning him over.

"It's very… nice," Simon tried, sitting awkwardly. "Are these dolls yours?"

"Yes, they are. My… my father gave most of them to me," she replied, hesitating only slightly. "I used to love playing with them, for hours every day. I gave them names, and told stories about them to oto-sama, and Adiane-san. Cytomander-san never wanted to hear them." She giggled, remembering the exasperated look on the Dai-Ganten General's face. "Isn't that silly?"

"Oto-sama always used to ask me," she murmured after a moment, "Every night after dinner, what kind of story I was making up for my Nia doll. I never understood what he meant, until…" Until she had been discarded like so much trash. Until Gaume had told her what it really meant to be the Spiral King's daughter.

She turned to Simon, smiling through the tears shining on her cheeks. "I'm very sorry, Simon, you didn't come here to talk about my father. Did you have something to say?"

Nia's eyes flew open as she felt Simon's hand brush her cheek. It was rough, cracked and calloused from long days digging and piloting Lagann, but his touch was gentle and his skin was warm against hers. Her father had never touched her. Not once.

All of a sudden she hurled herself at him, arms wrapped frantically around his chest and face buried in his shoulder. "Simon," she sobbed, voice muffled by his coat. Cytomander, exasperatedly stepping over a three-year-old girl. Cytomander, screaming as the bladed prow of the Dai-Gurren smashed into Shuzack and continued on into the Dai-Ganten.

Adiane, smirking as she smashed the volleyball past Thymilph for the winning point in the 'Girls vs. Boys' game nine-year-old Nia had set up. Adiane, blazing like a star in the center of the firestorm that had been Sayrune.

Oto-sama, smiling and benevolent, deep-voiced and powerful. Oto-sama, the fiery monstrosity that tore Lagann apart bare-handed and killed thousands of humans at a whim.

"Simon, I miss them," she whispered, balling her hands into Simon's coat. "They were my family. Adiane hit me sometimes, and Cytomander was always a little strange, but they were still my family." She looked up, meeting Simon's startled brown eyes. "He was still my father!"

She leaned into Simon's chest, crying quietly, and did not react when Simon put his arms around her. "I'm sorry, Nia," he murmured, his voice resonating against her face. "I'm sorry."

They sat there for a long time, the digger and the princess together in the ruins of a civilization. After a while, when she was confident that all her tears had been cried, Nia pulled gently away from Simon. "Thank you, Simon," she whispered, wiping gently at her eyes. She laughed quietly. "I am sorry. Your coat must be very wet."

"Oh, no, it's fine," Simon assured her hastily. He paused for a moment, as if thinking. "Nia, do you know why people have eyes in the front of their heads?"

Nia frowned. "Why?"

"Aniki used to say, it's so people can see the horizon in front of them and keep moving forward." Simon raised his hand, clenching it into a fist as if grabbing the sun. "But I've been thinking about it, and I realized something. It's not just for that. It's so you can see your friends walking into the unknown right next to you."

Simon let his hand fall and turned to Nia, sheepish. "At least, that's what I thou – Nia?!"

The kiss was awkward, rough; Nia could taste her own tears on Simon's lips. It was rushed, painful, really, as her lower lip was smashed against her teeth. She almost tasted blood.

It was perfect.

"Ni – Nia," Simon managed, when he could speak again. Nia stood, determination in her eyes. She walked to the nearest window and seized the velvet curtain, pulling it loose in one grand motion. The latch was harder to deal with, but it gave after a few moments of pulling. The window swung open.

"I've decided, Simon," she said, smiling as a gust of wind stirred the heavy air of the bedroom for the first time in a millennium. "I am not going to be a doll anymore. I will never forget oto-sama, or Adiane-san, or anyone else who helped to raise me. But it's time to move forward now." She held out her hand. "Will you come with me?"

"Anywhere." Simon's calloused hand grasped her smooth one, rough skin sliding against smooth.

Walking hand in hand, they left the ruins of her past behind, looking straight ahead to the future just now coming into view.

**Phew! Okay, this was my first attempt to write from Nia's point of view. Was I successful? Did I make her too emotional? Please let me know! Just click 'Add Review', and don't be gentle with criticism. No one gets better through waffling.**


	4. Chapter 5: Playing With Dolls

**Chapter 5: Playing With Dolls**

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**Last spoiler warning, folks. Go finish the series.**

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It was a pity. This one had been more diverting than most.

Retainers scurried away at his gesture, the box bobbing between them on wide leather straps. He settled back, the familiar whir of the Drillmaidens accompanying the motion as they draped themselves back over his legs and chest. These six of his toys were no longer interesting, but they had their uses. Most importantly, they did not ask questions.

An unaccustomed sigh rumbled from deep within his chest. Was it possible that he was doing something wrong? Every time, every _single time_, his dolls grew discontent. They wondered. They asked questions. They _thought_. One had even argued, raised his voice to him. Once.

They were never physically punished. One didn't break a doll that had fallen out of favor, after all; they were simply… put away. To continue the metaphor. Life in the palace was, unquestionably, the best life available to any human on this planet. What else was there? Eking life from the dead, unforgiving soil and the harsh red sun? Crawling through the dirt like a worm, scavenging thin white vegetables and stringy animals? All he asked in return was to be entertained. It was a small price to pay. And yet his dolls seemed so unwilling to pay it.

Something was wrong. It was far too quiet in the throne room. Reaching out a massive hand, he stroked a nearby Drillmaiden beneath the chin. She cooed, awaiting his command. "Where is Raini?" he asked. "Call him to me."

The Drillmaidens did not possess enough intelligence to be confused, but even so a flicker of hesitation crossed this one's eyes as she answered. "Raini has been sent to the Valley, my lord Helix King," she reported, synthetic voice buzzing at the sibilants.

Ah, yes. So he had. With a rustle of silk, he stood. "Gaume."

Another Drillmaiden spoke with his General's voice. "Yes, Helix King?"

"Prepare Naon Village for my arrival."

"Ah." Gaume did not sound entirely surprised. "Another son this time, my lord?"

Gaume's long service sometimes led him to assume too much familiarity, but he was too accomplished to kill – and occasionally he was amusing.

"No. A daughter."

Maybe this one would be interesting.

Maybe this one would love him.

**Here's the fifth one, then. I apologize for the long wait, but I've been royally writer's-blocked for the past few weeks. **

**Want me to write faster? Leave a review! Nothing motivates me like feedback.**


	5. Chapter 6A: Rider From The West

**Chapter 6: Rider From The West**

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**This chapter is based on GAINAX' Parallel Works 4. Go watch it on YouTube before reading if you haven't already seen it.**

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The setting sun filled the western horizon as he rode, coloring the surrounding bluffs and cliffsides a dark red-orange. It might as well be blood painting the stone, Viral thought grimly, eyes fixed on the dusty road ahead. Every hundred yards or so a massive crater distorted the fading lines of the little-used track; the edges of the footprints were sharply defined. _He_ had been through here, and recently too.

The dark smoke rising in a thick column ahead confirmed his fears, and he dug his heels into Enki's sides. The grey didn't make a sound, but surged ahead, as if hearing his master's thoughts. There was a thin line between being useful and being too late to help, and as the blond Beastman reined in his horse in the middle of Main Street, he had a sinking feeling he knew which side of the line he'd come down on this time.

It wasn't that Ruosa Village had been razed; that wasn't really _his_ style. Instead, gaping holes marred the fading but colorful paint of the houses and storefronts that had been targeted, black rings of still-smoking charcoal surrounding the damage. The general store had collapsed in on itself, and was smoldering in a way that bespoke only a token effort to save it. The damage had just been too great this time.

Viral's sharp eyes picked out a familiar figure among the crowd of firefighters determinedly passing buckets back and forth between the town well and the saloon; he let out a breath he didn't remember holding. If Thymilph was still alive, then the news wasn't all bad. He dismounted at a walk, stepping unconcernedly out of Enki's saddle loop as the stallion pranced to a halt.

"Thymilph, I'm glad to see you're all right," he said by way of greeting, accepting a full bucket of well-water from a rooster Beastman and passing it along.

The portly Beastman grunted, taking an empty bucket from the slim woman ahead of him in line and handing it backwards. Viral took it and passed it back before the storekeeper spoke. "You only missed him by a few hours," Thymilph replied, voice gravelly from smoke and natural disposition. "It's like he aimed for the store this time, the bastard. Don't know what I ever did to him."

Viral let out a low chuckle, then fell silent. "How many dead?"

Thymilph didn't pause in the water line, but his voice took on a decided edge when he spoke. "Twelve. Three children, Spenks and Helena's two girls."

"Damnit." Viral's claws tightened on the next bucket. "_Damn_ it."

"Easy." Thymilph took the bucket from him, ignoring the finger-sized dents in the rim, and passed it on. "There's nothing you could have done anyway, Viral. For all your talk, all you've got is Enki and that rusty old cleaver – and neither of them are getting you onto the Dai-Shinkyokao."

"We'll find a way." Viral's tone was firm, and cold, and Thymilph knew he had no chance of arguing with him.

The older Beastman chuckled, shaking his head resignedly. "Viral, I wish I had half your spirit. If anyone's going to change something in this godforsaken wasteland, it's you.

"Get going." As Viral reached for the next full bucket, Thymilph's meaty hand pushed past him and took it, effectively cutting the rider from the water chain. "I got a message from Adiane two days ago, asking me to send you down if I saw you. Well, here you are. Go."

"You still need help here," Viral protested, gesturing to the smoking debris cluttering the street.

Thymilph shook his head, grinning. "You'll be a hell of a lot more help if you can kill that sonofabitch for good, Viral. Go see Adiane, or you'll never be welcome at Ruosa Village again, you understand?!"

Viral stood for a moment, staring at the shopkeeper, then turned with a flash of his ragged cape. He mounted Enki in one smooth motion, and saluted Thymilph with his free hand. "I understand," he replied, returning the grin. Then, with a clatter of hooves, he was gone: heading south. Heading to the coast.

No one watched him go. No eyes followed his back as it disappeared into the dusty twilit haze. But a small part of everyone rode with him.

**----**

**A note: Dai-Shinkyokao is as close as I could get to 'Great Death Face'. Like hell I'm calling alternate-Kamina Kamina, either, but I'll deal with that problem when I get there.**

**This is part one of probably three. I'll be posting the second in a few days, and the third whenever I get it written.**

**Reviews are love, folks!**


	6. Chapter 6B: Onward To The Sea

**Chapter 6 Part 2: Onward to the Sea**

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"-urvivors report that Dai-Shinkyokao is moving northwest." The audio from the small black-and-white TV filled the break room, static crackling in the rafters and off the corrugated-iron walls. Several off-duty workers looked up as Viral, leading Enki by the reins, stepped into view, but most continued to watch the tiny screen, fear, hatred and worry mixed in varying proportions on their faces.

"Hey, Viral." Hider, a snakelike Beastman and Enki's unofficial tender, tipped his patched hat to the blond horseman as he took the stallion's reins. "Boss is lookin' for ya in th' back." Viral nodded his thanks, threading his way through the various ripped sofas and chairs to the warehouse door.

The warehouse complex itself was a cacophonic mess. The sounds of power tools and shifting metal-on-stone interweaved with shouts, curses and guffaws as work progressed on however many projects were cooking at the moment. A few of the faces bent over arc-welders and disassembled engines were familiar, but Viral didn't spare them more than a distracted wave. Word had definitely come through that he was here; any noticeable delay would –

"Viral, I'd heard you arrived," Adiane cooed, resting a long-fingered hand on his shoulder. "What took you so long?"

Viral felt her armored tail constrict his legs and sighed; he was in for it now.

"Hello, Adiane," he said, turning as much as he could. Craning his neck like this, Adiane's fingers were pressed into his cheek, and her fingernails were just visible. They were short and cracked, badges of a lifetime spent in manual labor, but she still stubbornly lacquered them. "It's good to see you again."

She slugged him in the arm, not hard enough to hurt, but not a love tap, either. "Liar," she replied, smiling. "Come this way. We've been busy since you were last here, and I think you'll be impressed."

Adiane led him through the chaos of the warehouse floor, pausing every now and again to deliver praise or scathing verbal lashings in equal measure. As the minutes stretched, Viral soon got the feeling that she had forgotten he was there.

"Adiane, Thymilph said you'd sent him a letter asking for me," he began, cutting off the scorpion-tailed mechanic in the middle of a tirade. Adiane turned to face him, while the cowed Beastwoman she had been shouting at wisely took the opportunity to scurry off.

"Yes, I did," she said, smiling teasingly at him. "I figured you would want to be here for the unveiling of the finished product."

Viral frowned. Given her mercurial mood and varying attention span, Adiane could be referring to anything. "What product is that?"

"It's still a surprise," she declared, throwing her head back to let out an imperious laugh. Viral sighed as she rolled up her sleeves and stalked after the escaped Beastwoman, an evil light glowing in her good eye.

The unfortunate woman was given a second reprieve, however, as an anteater Beastman jogged into view and snapped Adiane as crisp a salute as he could manage with his elongated claws. "Adiane-sama, the final engine has just been installed," he reported, standing ramrod-straight. "Cytomander-san reports 100% optimum readings on all systems."

"Excellent," Adiane cried, startling a few nearby workers. "Viral, this way."

Viral followed, bemused. She'd just been stalling for time, apparently.

**--**

"Adiane…"

"It is rather impressive, isn't it?" Adiane nodded, self-congratulatory satisfaction evident on her face.

"I might agree with you if I knew what I was looking at," Viral replied, unfazed. One got used to Adiane fast.

"What you're looking at, moron, is our key to the Dai-Shinkyokao," Adiane returned, giving him another sock in the arm. "This is the vessel that will crush the humans forever."

It certainly didn't look like anything that grandiose. Bobbing gently in the waves of the factory complex's only dock, the ship in question looked more like a steel box than anything that could challenge Dai-Shinkyokao's massive guns. It barely looked seaworthy.

"I know what you're thinking, Viral," Adiane warned him, armored tail lashing playfully. "You'd better not insult my ship. That's treason, and the punishment is… well…" she leaned on Viral conspiratorially, brushing her fingers across his jaw. "I get to decide..."

"I fully and wholeheartedly approve of this ship," Viral said immediately, deadpan.

Adiane laughed and slung an arm around Viral's thin shoulders. "All right, Mr Kiss Ass, this way. It's almost dinnertime, and you can see the rest of the ship."

Viral gamely followed the mechanic to the ship; the other option was losing his head. Adiane went where she liked _when_ she liked.

--

The interior corridors of the ship were relatively low-ceilinged, but wide enough to allow even Thymilph access. Adiane led Viral through a maze of similar corridors before arriving at a set of steel double doors bearing fresh paint lettering proclaiming this the Mess Hall. Always one for spectacle, Adiane planted a solid kick into the middle of the doors, dragging Viral in after her.

The mess hall was already fairly busy, with Beastmen of all kinds and sizes intermingling – though an observant bystander could notice that, as a rule, the herbivores avoided the carnivores. One round table about halfway up the length of the room was relatively empty, hosting only two Beastmen, and it was to this table that Viral was 'escorted'.

The shorter of the two seated figures looked up as Adiane approached; he took a drag on an old-fashioned long-stemmed pipe clenched between his pointed teeth. "This must be your miracle man, Adiane," he said finally, wreathing Viral in sweet-smelling smoke. "What's your name, boy?"

"Viral, sir," Viral replied, nodding to him. "It's my pleasure."

"Dispense with the 'sir' crap and we'll get along great, boy," the armadillo replied casually. "Call me Gaume or don't talk to me at all. Makes no difference to me."

"Got it." Viral grinned, taking a liking to the crotchety old man.

"I'll get the food," Adiane said, pulling out a chair. "Viral, sit your ass down and pretend you can be friendly."

Viral did as instructed. As Adiane walked away, Gaume let out a smoky chuckle, eyes visibly following her. "She likes you, boy. Consider yourself lucky."

"Lucky? She's completely psychotic," the other table guest, a tall, thin man with a vibrant red crest of hair, muttered around his fork.

"Personality doesn't matter in the dark, now does it boy?" Gaume gave a hearty laugh and blew a derisive plume of smoke in the stranger's face. "Or maybe you can find some other uses for that poisonous mouth of hers."

After a moment, Viral realized the comment had been addressed to him. "I hadn't considered it either way, si – Gaume."

Gaume raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Oh, excellent, another one of _your_ types, Cytomander." The tall man – Cytomander – elegantly flipped him the bird without pausing in his meal.

"I don't care what you say," the armadillo complained, gesturing expansively with his pipe. "All you kids with the proper equipment for the job and lacking the brains. If I were two feet taller, I'd show you how it's done! _Whatever_ arguments you make, there's something wrong with not appreciating a nice, firm pair of – "

"Don't finish that sentence," Adiane cut in lightly, bopping Gaume with her tail with such force that the old Beastman rose several inches from his chair on the rebound. He chortled to himself, shooting Cytomander a conspiratorial look that he met with one of withering scorn.

Adiane set a metal tray piled with what looked like roast rabbit in front of her chair, and slid its twin in front of Viral.

"Eat up, Viral, and let's talk about Dai-Shinkyokao."

-------

**I enjoyed extrapolating Gaume's dirty-old-man character in this chapter. His whole spiel to Nia in Episode 11 really highlights the fact that, without Lordgenome around, he's a huge freakin' creep. And it's great fun writing for huge freakin' creeps.**

**I can see Cytomander bolting his dinner trying to get away from the old guy who refuses to leave.**

**Part Three will be up... when it's up. I'm sorry that I can't be any more specific, but fiction is a fickle bitch.**

**Reviews are love.**


	7. Chapter 6Ca: Life Aboard DaiShikyokao

**Oh, look, an update! No, I'm not dead. Sincerely -- I'm sorry for making y'all wait. Assuming anyone was really torn up about my absence, heh.**

**The content in this chapter isn't really **_**new**_** per se – it's from last year. Still, I recently reread it and I think it's pretty funny, whether that was my intention at the time or not. ****So, without further ado: Rider From The West, part 3. A silly, non-fanonical look at what more familiar faces have been up to…**

**Oh, language and _creepy_ behavior ahead. Just so you know.**

**----------**

For the past few days, everyone had breathed a little bit easier.

The quality of life aboard Dai-Shikyokao was highly dependent upon the moods of its lord, unpredictable as those were; a good raid always made _him_ feel better for a nice long while, though, and when _he _felt better, everyone felt better. Of course, there was always something cropping up…

"Shiiiiiiiit." The word came from the command chair, and the bridge officers tensed instinctively. _He_ had been quiet for a few hours – and that meant that _he_ had been thinking. _He_ wasn't always good at it, truth be told, but the conclusions _he_ came to _he_ came to with the certainty of a typhoon. Sometimes it was possible to sail under the storm, for a while anyway; unfortunately, it didn't sound like now was one of those times.

"Y'know, Artenboroh," _he_ began, resting _his_ chin on _his_ hand. "I keep going back to that village in my head, and in my head it's still not blown up. I let it slide earlier 'cause I was having fun, but you wanna tell me why that is now?"

At his console, Gunnery Officer Artenboroh paled a little. The other bridge personnel breathed a silent sigh of relief. The sacrificial lamb had been chosen, and if they were at all lucky Artenboroh would calm _him_ down.

He wasn't doing a very good job yet, though. "W-well, sir, the air-to-surface missile launchers we attached before we hit the village overloaded the firing systems," he stammered, sinking into his chair as _he_ stood and walked, utterly implacable, to stand before the hapless man. "I-I tried to tell –" he stopped, horrified, but the damage had been done. _He_ pulled the shaking man from his chair, slamming their foreheads roughly together.

"Don't you give me shit about trying to tell me! Who in hell do you think you're talking to?!" _he_ roared, throwing Artenboroh to the floor. The soon-to-be-ex-Gunnery-Officer tried to rise, but _his_ booted foot slammed into his chest, pinning him. "I'm Gyaku Kanina-sama, son of the Surface King! A man whose blade runs with blood, who's killed more Beastman scum than you've ever even seen! When you hear people talk about the Iron Skull, brother, they're talkin' about _me_." Kanina gave Artenboroh a spiteful kick in the ribs. "If you can't handle it, get the fuck off my bridge." So saying, he lifted the officer bodily and heaved him into the elevator.

There was silence. Kanina looked around at the dumbstruck faces of his bridge crew. "And somebody get me the freak from Engineering."

----

Haiko Siemon was a busy lad. Aside from polishing Kanina-sama's fearfully sharp katana every night and cleaning his sunglasses every time he took them off, he ran messages throughout the Dai-Shikyokao. It really was quite an honor, though, so he bore his duties without complaint. Truth be told, anyway, in terms of authority, he was always happiest at the bottom.

The maze of passages between the bridge and Engineering was teeming with people: soldiers, mechanics, even a cook or two, but Siemon's slender young body slid through the press easily. For a message this important – and any message from Kanina-sama was important – the utmost speed was necessary.

Siemon reached the Engineering department in record time. He bent over, hands on knees, to catch his breath. "Is… Ren-san… in?" he managed. A few technicians opened their mouths, but before they could say anything Siemon felt a hand on his ass. He shot forward, spinning around to confront –

"Ah, such an alluring young man, arriving all flustered and calling my name," Danjo Loren, head of the Engineering department, cooed. "What brings you here, my sweet little thing?"

Siemon swallowed, mouth suddenly dry. "U-um, you see –"

"Well, spit it out, boy –" Ren's eyes gleamed, half-hooded under black glitter – "or not, if you prefer – but tell me why you're here." He captured Siemon's chin with one long-fingered hand, leaning forward.

"U-uh, no, it's –" Siemon began, squirming a little. Ren released him and straightened, all humor gone from his eyes.

"Boy, we can find other uses for that mouth of yours if you don't plan on using it to talk," he murmured. "Some of them –"

"Kanina-sama wants to see you!" Siemon shouted. Ren gave a small 'tsk', turning away. "That one or this one… what a choice," he sighed. "Oh well. Duty calls."

Siemon let out his breath, sliding back against a bulkhead as Ren vanished down the hallway. Engineering was a dangerous place.

"Siemon? What are you doing here?" Siemon gasped, afraid for a moment that Ren had come back – but no, the voice was a woman's. Mune Yōko was the Dai-Shikyokao's resident wetwork assassin – knives and poisons were her specialty. Siemon adopted a haughty expression.

"Kanina-sama picked me personally to come down here," he replied, pride swelling in his chest. He had seen The Great Man smiling at her, and she was therefore a threat. She had to be put in her place.

"If you say so," Yōko replied uninterestedly, twirling a serrated knife. She flipped it into the air, casually sheathing it into one of her forearm sheaths as it came down. "But it seems that 'somebody' sounds an awful lot like 'Siemon' to you if that's the case…"

Hot tears stung at Siemon's eyes. The nerve! He opened his mouth to reply. Instead, a klaxon sounded: red alert. "All hands to battle stations," Dakaya's calm voice ordered. "Beastmen approaching on foot from the north. They –" his voice muffled for a moment, as though he was leaning past the microphone. "What the hell? They've got Ganmen!"

A burst of static filled the air, and Kanina-sama's voice cut past his first mate. "Siemon! Get your ass up here, and bring my goddamn sword! They're going for the deck!"

Siemon nearly swooned – the great one had said his name, over the _loudspeaker_. But fainting would delay him, so he managed to stay upright as he raced for Kanina-sama's chambers, heart filled with enough joy to double his speed.

But not enough to stop him flinging a "Bitch" over his shoulder.

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**Heh. Entertaining, I hope? Should I get around to working on Rider From The West again, I won't be using these characters. Still, I liked flipping the Dai-Gurren Dan we all know and love… and then blowing the results up to ridiculous levels. **

**Most of the names are puns, by the way, in keeping with the series itself. You've got:**

**Artenboroh: Not a pun, just a poke at all the strange ways I've seen folks Romanize 'Attenborough'.**

**Gyaku Kanina: 'Gyaku' (**逆**)** **means 'reverse' or 'wicked'. 'Kanina' apparently means 'Fuck your mother' in the Hokkien dialect of Chinese. I had to use it, especially for such a foul-mouthed and overall unpleasant fellow.**

**Haiko Siemon: 'Kōhai' (**後輩**)** **is used to refer to subordinates or lowerclassmen. 'Siemon' would be pronounced 'Zeemon', but I chose it because it looks similar enough to 'Simon'. Also, yes, I completely intended all the creepy **_**uke**_** subtext. Go back and rewatch the Parallel Works. Boy's got permanent blush!**

**Danjo Loren: 'Danjo' (**男女**) is a word used to group men and women together. Thus… evil!Leeron. Loren's a pretty obvious swap, too. Again, totally meant for the Orochimaru vibes, too… thanks, Steve Blum! *thumbs up***

**Mune Yōko: 'Mune' (**胸**) means, bluntly, breasts. I also changed the pronunciation of Yoko's name, just to differentiate.**

**Dakaya: Nothing special here; I couldn't do anything funny with it.**

**Anyway, please review! If you liked it, let me know! If you didn't, stop me before I write again!**


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